“The goal of the 2022 GARD Conference is to bring together scientists from across the globe to discuss various amphibian and reptile diseases,” said Matt Gray, professor in Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries.
On August 4th through 10th of 2022, the first GARD Conference will take place at the University of Tennessee Conference Center. This will be a hybrid event that will include discussions led by qualified scientists, developmental workshops, and research presentations. At large, the conference will cover host to pathogen systems and disease management strategies for herpetofauna species. This conference in my opinion is gravely needed for the conservation of amphibians and reptilian populations. The news release states that herpetofauna extinction rates are 60 times above the norm. Scientists believe one main cause of this outrageous fact is pathogen/disease transmission through humans. The highly concerning diseases that were highlighted in the article include snake fungal disease, pond turtle shell disease, ranavirus infection, and chytridiomycosis which are resulting in mass mortality events in certain species worldwide. Obviously, something needs to be done to stop these events. It's concerning to me that this will be the first-ever conference relating to these topics of its kind. I know there are separate conservation projects and organizations that work on the conservation of particular species. Such as the organizations we met with ( TSA and the volunteers at Francis Marion National Forest). But, a place for the amalgamation of qualified scientists to discuss all herpetofauna species is a fantastic opportunity for organizations to bring their specific knowledge to share with others in hopes of creating widespread and lasting solutions. Just from our local species list, you can see the amount of herpetofauna that are of concern/endangered status which highlights this need. Whenever I hear about decreasing amphibian or reptile populations, my mind goes to the pet trade, so this was an interesting new perspective to gain. Hopefully, this conference will raise awareness for herpetofauna conservation and allow for further conferences worldwide. From my reading of the news release, I believe that education to the public about how we can transmit deadly pathogens/diseases would be very beneficial in the conservation of herps. This conference is open to the public so maybe local and nonlocal people can attend and learn great ways to combat the further declination of these populations.
Here is the link to the original news release:
https://utianews.tennessee.edu/first-global-amphibian-and-reptile-disease-conference/
You can register now for the event if interested by clicking on this link! Also, the page shows all of the organizations participating in the conference.
https://utconferences.eventsair.com/gard-conference/
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